July 23 (Reuters) – Amnon Shashua, CEO of Mobileye since founding it in 1999, will step down, just as the autonomous-driving technology firm makes a big push into a robotaxi service and robotics.
The company also forecast a 5% to 6% revenue drop for the third quarter, overshadowing its strong April-June showing and sending shares down about 15% in their steepest single-day drop since August 2024.
Shashua’s resignation marks Mobileye’s biggest leadership change, coming after he steered the firm through a $15.3 billion buyout by Intel in 2017 and a 2022 return to public markets, though the stock has fallen 60% since the debut on uneven demand.
Shashua did not give a reason for his resignation, but said that it was the “right moment to establish the leadership structure that will be best suited for Mobileye’s next chapter.”
He will step down once Mobileye appoints a successor and has been offered the role of chairman and will stay on as a director.
On a post-earnings call, Shashua said he will shift his focus to longer-term technology development, particularly humanoids, which he sees as a major frontier for innovation.
A new CEO, meanwhile, will steer the company’s next strategy for its more established autonomous-driving and ADAS businesses, he added.
The move comes months after Mobileye bought humanoid robotics startup Mentee Robotics, also co-founded by Shashua and where he was co-CEO, for about $900 million. Interest in humanoid robotics is surging, driven by the idea that human-like forms can better adapt to factories and complex settings.
Shashua also spent a major chunk of Thursday’s call discussing the U.S. robotaxi service the company plans to launch next year. He said the company could generate about $125,000 in annual revenue per vehicle.
For the second quarter, the company posted revenue of $508 million, beating analysts’ estimates of $481.24 million and adjusted earnings of 19 cents per share, which topped estimates of 6 cents, according to LSEG data.
(Reporting by Rashika Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Vijay Kishore)
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